How We Live

 

 

Safety

 

SAFETY HINTS [from our members]

Health & Safety Information on Household Products

I was searching on the internet for a household product this morning and came across
the following database that is available thru the National Institutes of Health (NIH).You can search by categories, types of products, or any ingredient. The section with the title MSDS will show you the Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet for the product.  It is required on products and lists all the ingredients, side effects, and warnings.  [Buck Martin]

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS DATABASE.

This database includes products used in Auto, Landscape, Pet Care, Home Maintenance, Inside the House, Personal Care, Arts & Crafts, Home Office and Pesticides.

http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm

 

 

Prior Preparation & Education Can Save Lives

 

December 1995, Nancy had a laryngectomy after they discovered cancer of the esophagus and voice box (larynx). She had radiation afterwards in an effort to keep the cancer from spreading and encountered other struggles but she was a brave woman and learned to adapt. In 2005, we moved to Missouri and were comforted to know there was a hospital nearby but we later found the hospital was not familiar with, nor equipped to handle, laryngectomees.

 

The local emergency personnel were unfamiliar with treating people in her situation and did not have the correct supplies. In the end, Nancy died at the hands of uneducated health care workers who were under trained and ill equipped to take care of a laryngectomee. There was confusion about how to give her oxygen. The nurses who treated her were not familiar with the need for suctioning a laryngectomee patient after administering saline solution to loosen the phlegm.

 

I beg all laryngectomees to take the time to educate their local emergency workers and to let them know where you live. It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain these things when an emergency takes place so please educate them before then.  Write up something for them to quickly read in case they come to your house and are new on the job, as personnel changes happen frequently. Have your number and address flagged so that if you call and can't speak, they will know there is an emergency.

 

Please help to spread the word and knowledge concerning laryngectomy patients. Lives depend on it. Please email if you have any questions or suggestions on getting the word out.

 

Lisa Mcintosh
tweedindeed@aol.com
In Memory of Nancy Ann Schilz.
9/14/45 to 1/19/06

 

 

 

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